Just like other loyalty programs, the IHG Rewards Club offers the possibility to redeem points while also paying a part of the required amount as a way to reach an award night quicker. That may be worth it but is generally a worse deal than a real award night. Currently, however, you’ll get a 25% discount on the cash portion of the booking, which is why you should take a closer look.
Details
The basics of this promotion are pretty simple. Until December 6, 2021, you’ll receive a 20% discount on the cash amount of your Points&Cash booking. This is valid for stays between December 27, 2021, and February 28, 2022. You can use this deal for multiple bookings.
The Points&Cash rates at IHG are generally cancellable until the day of your arrival. You do, however, have to be aware of a special downside: When you cancel a booking, you won’t get your money back but instead the money you paid will be converted into points (roughly 0.6 cents per point). This may be a helpful way to “buy” points but is not always what the customer would prefer.
The discount is directly applied during the booking process. It will look somewhat like this:
An Example Calculation
To give you an example, we’ll show you a calculation using the Holiday Inn Munich City Centre (February 20 to 21, 2022) as an example. Booked regularly, the night there would cost €114. Alternatively, you could redeem 17,000 points, leading to a value of 0.67 cents per point.
If you book with Points&Cash, you’ll get two options:
- 12,000 points + €26 (0.73 cents per point)
- 7,000 points + €51 (0.9 cents per point)
The 25% discount thus gets you 0.73 cents per IHG point. It’s not outstanding, but quite good.
Translated by Ditmar Lange